Manual peeling of garlic or similar food products with a knife or other instrument is time consuming and requires exacting attention on the part of the food preparer. The garlic aroma which tends to remain on the hands and clothing of the preparer is objectionable to many persons. In the case of onions, peeling releases volatile substances which cause eye irritation.
My prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,429, issued Sept. 6, 1988, discloses a food processor attachment which greatly relieves the problems associated with manual peeling of such foodstuffs. The attachment of the prior patent has a bowl in which an abrasive rotary disk is situated. Rotation of the disk by the food processor motor rapidly abrades the dry and brittle skin away from garlic bulbs without damaging the softer tissue of the underlying cloves.
Use of the prior powered garlic peeler requires that the food processor be turned off at the end of a peeling operation and the peeled product and peelings are then manually removed from the bowl and are separated from each other. It would be advantageous if the peeler apparatus itself accomplished these operations. This would be highly convenient where the peeler is used sporadically in the preparation of home meals and would be even more advantageous in restaurants or other establishments where high volume food preparation occurs. A garlic peeler may be used continuously for long periods of time at such locations. The operations which are required in the course of manually removing each batch of the food product and the peelings from the apparatus substantially reduce production rate.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems discussed above.